Live Nation Merchandise v. John Does 1-100 et al. (17-cv-11381).

Judge Zobel issued a preliminary injunction and seizure order preventing bootleg sales of concert merchandise. The concert promoter for Coldplay filed suit prior to Coldplay’s August 4th concert at Gillette Stadium in an attempt to deter counterfeiting related to merchandise bearing various “COLDPLAY” registered marks. Judge Zobel noted that numerous defendants had been served with the complaint at the Gillette show but had failed to appear for the hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction. The order prohibits the defendants from using the band’s trademarks on any merchandise or from aiding or inducing others from using them, and further orders the U.S. Marshal for any district in which the Plaintiff seeks to enforce the order to seize and impound all infringing merchandise being offered for sale in within ten miles of any Coldplay concert for a period of time from six hours prior to the concert to six hours after the show ends. While the injunction came too late to help the band (and the concert promoter Plaintiff) in Foxboro, it should serve to protect them on the remainder of their shows in America.

It is interesting to note that Coldplay is no stranger to intellectual property lawsuits, having itself been sued by guitarist Joe Satriani for infringing the copyright in his instrumental song “If I Could Fly” through Coldplay’s hit “Viva la Vida” (a comparison of the two songs can be found here). That case settled out of court in 2009.

About this blog…

The D. Mass. IP Litigation Blog will monitor the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, with a special interest on patent, trademark, trade secret, antitrust, and copyright litigation. Since the Supreme Court’s TC Heartland decision, we have seen an increase in intellectual property filings in D. Mass. due to the high concentration of technology and life sciences companies in the Commonwealth and because of the Court’s ability to handle complex, accelerated matters. We plan on providing our readers with timely insights on recent cases.